Bike Rack Project

[1x1Pilot]

Doing a bit of fabricating.... I’ve got a super nice Kuat hitch rack, but bikes get punished when driving in any kind of weather. Tailgate pads are tough on frames. The bed is too short for a single crossbar with fork mounts.

So I built this..... simple, but keeps your drivetrain out of the slipstream, and you’ve still got room for gear!

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[W8lifts]

Interesting, I need to still figure our how to transport my bikes, right now it’s just a hot mess in the back and get scratched up and tangled with the other bike

 

[HouseOfWolves]

Wrestled with the bike rack issue even before I bought my JTR... Looked at several options but ultimately decided to go mostly the factory route.

Put in the MOPAR utility rail/tie down system last week. Crossbars on order -- awaiting delivery. Going to migrate the Yakima Universal ForkLift trays from my other vehicle to the JTR once the crossbars come in.

So pretty much the action shown in the picture, but with fork mounted trays. Allows cargo to go underneath the bikes.

 

[Rubi-Zero]

Doing a bit of fabricating.... I’ve got a super nice Kuat hitch rack, but bikes get punished when driving in any kind of weather. Tailgate pads are tough on frames. The bed is too short for a single crossbar with fork mounts.

So I built this..... simple, but keeps your drivetrain out of the slipstream, and you’ve still got room for gear!

That is an interesting rack, I like what you have come up with . Are you finished with it or are you still playing with ideas? Is there any reason why you had the bar from the hitch come up so high? It seems that if that bar was much shorter the bikes could slide back further in the bed and the forks would sit lower over the tail gate. This would make the bikes sit level unless there is something I am missing here that would prevent this.

 

[1x1Pilot]

That is an interesting rack, I like what you have come up with . Are you finished with it or are you still playing with ideas? Is there any reason why you had the bar from the hitch come up so high? It seems that if that bar was much shorter the bikes could slide back further in the bed and the forks would sit lower over the tail gate. This would make the bikes sit level unless there is something I am missing here that would prevent this.

That’s a lot to unpack.... ?. If I placed the fork mounts lower, the rear wheels would be closer to the front of the bed, decreasing space for gear.

I RARELY have to haul bikes, I live pretty much at a trailhead. But when we do haul our bikes, we’ve got tons of gear so cargo space is important. I’m still not sure if I’ve left enough gear space.

I think the only other solution would be crossbars, but those are a fairly permanent install. I usually store my bike rack when I don’t use it because as I mentioned before I just ride from the house 99 percent of the time.....

 

[Readyt]

Doing a bit of fabricating.... I’ve got a super nice Kuat hitch rack, but bikes get punished when driving in any kind of weather. Tailgate pads are tough on frames. The bed is too short for a single crossbar with fork mounts.

So I built this..... simple, but keeps your drivetrain out of the slipstream, and you’ve still got room for gear!

Nice,
Wouldn't work for my Cannondale's with Lefty's though. But great for standard fork MTBs

 

[BaileyW7]

Is it a huge pain to take the wheel off to transport? I am looking for ways to use my 1up tray. Love being able to just throw it on and be done.

 

[1x1Pilot]

Is it a huge pain to take the wheel off to transport? I am looking for ways to use my 1up tray. Love being able to just throw it on and be done.

Tray racks are SUPER convenient, and I’ve owned a few of them. It’s not so handy having to taking a wheel off, and even more so since mine is a thru axle bolt on wheel. A tray rack with a flat backed vehicle like a Gladiator turns your bike into a train wreck on dirt roads and when you drive on wet or slushy roads.

I guess there’s no perfect way to haul a bike. If I hate this, I’ll come up with another idea. I’m into it for 13 bucks worth of metal. So far, I like it and about to head to Southern Utah hauling 3 bikes. I definitely wouldn’t want my AXS drivetrain on a hitch rack driving through Central Wyoming again, as you can see from my iced up wheel in the picture above

 

[Dreaded1]

This is how I haul mine. KB Voodoo cross bars with Yakima High Roads rack. No removing the tire. The crossbars can be removed by removing 4 bolts. Or the feet and crossbars can be removed by removing 8 bolts in the trail rail system (which is also the DIY trail rail that can be done for under $100. If needed I can add 2 more trays to carry 4 bikes. Bed is left available for gear.

 

[dshed]

This is how I haul mine. KB Voodoo cross bars with Yakima High Roads rack. No removing the tire. The crossbars can be removed by removing 4 bolts. Or the feet and crossbars can be removed by removing 8 bolts in the trail rail system (which is also the DIY trail rail that can be done for under $100. If needed I can add 2 more trays to carry 4 bikes. Bed is left available for gear.

Does the factory tonneau still roll up underneath the bars?

 

[Dreaded1]

Yes it does, not as easily but it is still doable.

 

[Dreaded1]

Now that I am not on my phone.

The cover will still roll up, but is more of a slide towards the front and roll after you get passed the forward cross bar.

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